Gone but not forgotten
by ffreaderwriter
Summary: Chloe has an unexpected visitor from her past


I don't own any of the characters.  
This is an AU that starts out at the end of Crusade but there is a little twist to the way that it happened on the show. Hope you enjoy. The title is the name of a song that I was listening to when I got this idea.

It was a gray day. The dark clouds hung in the sky like a thick blanket refusing to let any sunshine in to warm the earth. The grayness didn't bother Clark; it matched the melancholy he was feeling. There was a slight chill in the air as the wind blew softly through the trees. He knew he shouldn't feel it, but he did as he stood on the manicured plot of green grass looking at the smooth stone monument. He stared at it as if to will what he was seeing not to be true.

He bent down and gently rubbed the perfectly carved stone that read, Chloe Sullivan beloved daughter and friend. He slowly stood up. "I'm so sorry. You shouldn't be here." Tears started to form in the corners of his eyes and wet his dark lashes. 

"I'm sorry I couldn't be there to help you, so that this wouldn't happen." He didn't even wipe the tears away as thy slowly fell down his face. He normally would because he wouldn't want anyone to see him cry, but he didn't care about pretenses now and he just let the tears flow.

"You were always so full of life. You brightened everything around you. Your wit and humor kept everyone on their toes. The world is going to be a whole lot less colorful without you here." Clark paused trying to gather his thoughts.

"I am sorry that I didn't realize how special you really were while you were still here." Clark sighed heavily.

"Goodbye, Chloe." Clark knelt down and placed the flowers at the foot of the monument and then gingerly kissed the top. He wrapped his jacket around him tightly as he looked up to the sky for a moment, then turned to leave as a light rain began to fall.

Forty years later…..

"Nana, we got some mail that I don't think is ours," the little girl said as she walked into the room.

"Bring it here, sweetie, and let me see what it says."

The child brought the large brown envelope to her grandmother. Ann gasped as she saw the name on the package. It was addressed to Chloe Sullivan.

She hadn't that name in she didn't know how long.

"Is something wrong, Nana?" Elizabeth asked as she looked up with big eyes, sitting down cross-legged on the floor next to the chair where her grandmother was sitting.

"No, nothing is wrong," Ann answered. Her breath caught in her throat again when she saw the return address on the envelope. She gingerly rubbed her hand over the small, neat handwriting. "Oh, Clark" she whispered as she continued to gaze at the package. She didn't notice that the package did not have a postmark stamped on it.

Elizabeth sat there trying to wait patiently to find out what was going on, but she couldn't wait any longer. "Nana, who's Chloe Sullivan?"

Ann's reverie was broken by the question. "What? Oh, that is a name I used to go by a long time ago."

"Why don't you go by that name now?" Elizabeth questioned.

"Well, you know how sometimes people will write stories under another name besides their own," Ann explained.

"Yeah, that's a pseudonym." Elizabeth said and smiled, very proud of herself.

"That's right, honey," Ann said, grinning. "I did that. At one time I went by the name of Chloe Sullivan. But now I am Ann McKenzie."

"Oh, okay. So, are you going to open it?" Elizabeth said, curious to see what was in the package.

Ann began to carefully open the envelope. She was also eager to find out what could be inside. She reached in and slowly pulled out an old Smallville High Yearbook. It was one of her old yearbooks. She saw her name engraved in the lower right hand corner. How did he get this? she wondered to herself as she slowly opened the yearbook.

"So, this is yours nana? It has pictures of you when you were in school?" Elizabeth asked, almost bouncing up and down.

"UmmHmm." Ann answered offhandedly, not really paying attention to her granddaughter. She opened it and looked at the pictures of everyone as a flood of memories came to her like water spilling over a dam.

The doorbell rang and Elizabeth jumped up to answer it. "I'll get it." She opened the door and saw a man standing there that seemed to probably be about her grandmother's age. Her grandmother had always told her to beware of strangers, but this man seemed to have really kind eyes, so she didn't slam the door in his face.

"Hi. Is your grandmother here?"

"UhhhHuhh." Elizabeth said bobbing her head up and down. "What's your name?"

"Clark. But don't tell your grandmother that, okay? I want it to be a surprise. What's your name?"

"It's Elizabeth," she said.

"That is a really pretty name, Elizabeth. Will you go and get your grandmother for me?"

"Okay, and I won't tell her." Elizabeth said as she put her finger to her mouth making a Shhhh sign and turned to leave the doorway. Clark mimicked the gesture back at the little girl.

"Nana, there is someone here to see you, but he didn't want me to tell you who it was, because it a surprise," she said excitedly, whispering the last part.

"Okay, well what did this mysterious person look like?" Ann questioned as she got up out of her chair.

"He was really tall," she said as put her hands above her head to show the great height. She grabbed Ann's hand and lead her to the door. 

Ann's eyes grew to the size of saucers.

"Hello, Chloe," Clark said as a wide smile broke out on his face.

Chloe stood there stunned, seemingly unable to get her brain to come up with anything intelligent to say.

"I see that I have done the impossible. I've made Chloe Sullivan speechless," Clark snarked.

"Better not get too excited about it, because that is the only time it will happen," Chloe retorted, putting her hands on her hips.

Chloe then rushed over to Clark and gave him the biggest hug she was possible of. He returned the embrace as hard as dared. He was so glad to finally be able to touch her and prove to himself that she was actually real and he hadn't imagined everything.

Chloe didn't want to let go. She didn't realize how much she had actually missed him, until he was here. Tears started to slowly make the way down her face. "Now, look at me." Chloe sniffled. "I normally don't do this."

Clark pulled Chloe away from him enough that he could gently wipe the tears from her face. He knew she needed a distraction so she wouldn't be standing there crying anymore and being embarrassed about it. 

"Would you like to go for a walk?" Clark asked motioning outside.

"I'd love to. Let me get my coat." Chloe left the front entrance leaving Elizabeth standing there very amused at the way her grandmother was acting.

"How do you know my nana?" Elizabeth inquired.

"We went to high school together. I sent your nana that yearbook." Clark answered.

"So did you date each other?" she inquired as she swayed back and forth.

"No, we didn't date. We were just really good friends." Clark stated. He was really amused with the little girl; he could definitely tell that she was related to Chloe. She had the same inquisitiveness.

"I see that the two of you are getting to know each other." Chloe said as she came from the other room. "I'm ready to go. Elizabeth go and tell your mom I'm going for a walk with a friend, an old friend."

"Yeah, you're one to say something about someone being old," Clark quipped.

"You know you never say anything about a woman's age." Chloe remarked as she turned and closed the door behind her.

"Oh, I see. I beg your pardon, Madame," Clark said in a mock formal accent as he stuck his arm out for Chloe to place hers in. "Which way?" 

"Let's go this way, toward the lake. It's really beautiful over there." Chloe said while pointing off into the distance.

"Okay, this way it is." Clark replied as they started walking down the sidewalk at a casual pace.

Chloe finally took a good look at Clark. He still had his thick, curly hair but he now had grey on both sides of his head. So many things were swirling around in her head. How did he find her? Had he missed her or had he not ever thought about her? She certainly hadn't forgotten about him. She couldn't believe after all these years that he was actually her walking arm in arm with her down the street. If anybody had told her this would happen she would have told them that they were crazy. But, here he was in the flesh.

"You're looking at all my gray hair. Aren't you?" Clark remarked.

"Yes, but I think it makes you look distinguished.

"Well, thank you." Clark smiled and nodded. "You look very nice yourself."

They reached a pristine lake that had trees scattered through the park, their long branches reaching out over the lake. Benches were placed along the way for people to sit and admire the view. A light dusting of snow covered the ground, over which squirrels scurried about trying to collect nuts.

"Isn't it beautiful?" Chloe asked gazing out at the scenery.

"It really is." Clark responded. "Do you want to sit down over there?"

"Okay." They headed over to a nearby bench.

Right after they sat down, Clark sighed heavily and hung his head, "I'm sorry Chloe."

Chloe gently put her hand on top of his and then put her hand underneath his chin pushing it up so that his eyes met hers. "Sorry about what?"

"Sorry, that I couldn't protect you from everything and that you had to leave everything behind," he said sorrowfully.

"Clark, even you couldn't have protected me from Lionel." Chloe said soothingly. "I got into the situation by myself. It is not your fault I had to leave. I'm sorry also. I'm sorry for any pain I caused by having to leave the way I did."

Clark's eyes widened when he heard her response but then a smile broke out on his face. "I always wondered if you had figured it out." Clark remarked. "When did you figure it out?"

"The first time I saw the uniform on T.V. I just put two and two together." Chloe said. "I like the glasses; they're a nice touch."

"Thanks."

"I hardly recognized you with them on,." Chloe said with a wry half smile.

"Ha, ha. Very funny," Clark retorted. "So how have you been?"

"I've been fine. In fact I think it's better that it worked out this way." Chloe saw Clark's confused expression and continued "I was able to finally get out of Lionel's grasp and have a life where I didn't have to constantly be looking over my shoulder.

Clark started to say something but Chloe cut him off. "I know what you are going to say. How could it be better when I had to leave everything and everyone I loved behind? It was the only way I could have anywhere near a normal life. This way he wouldn't go after anybody else to try to get to me."

"I'm sorry that you had to do that," Clark replied earnestly. Chloe waved her hand as if to brush away the comment.

"So, how did you manage to find me and how did you end up with one of my yearbooks?" Chloe asked curiously.

"You probably won't believe this but I ended up becoming a journalist," Clark started.

"Oh, really," Chloe remarked, trying to act surprised.

"I work at the Daily Planet in Metropolis," he continued.

"I particularly enjoyed your article last week on how City Hall was wasting money," Chloe commented, and then laughed as she saw Clark's surprised face. "What? I like to keep up with the news. Though I don't really care for the person who is currently in charge of editorials."

"Yeah, that guy is a bit of a jerk," Clark said absently. "How did you know about where I work?"

"Clark, you're one of the most well-known newspaper reporters" Chloe said exasperated. "Besides, I saw you on the news and decided to subscribe to the paper. But, please continue with your story. You were telling me how you found me."

"Oh, yeah. Well, I was working on this article about the Witness Protection Program and just how effective it really is. I decided to look into your case to see what I could find out. I was curious what had gone wrong. Since it had been such a long time, I was able to find out through a few contacts that you hadn't died in that explosion. All they could tell me was your name. Then I had to find out where Ann McKenzie was and which Ann McKenzie was actually Chloe Sullivan."

"I am glad that you found me, but should I be concerned about that?" Chloe asked seriously.

"No, no one knows that I was able to put two and two together and I was able to find you," Clark said reassuringly. "I have to say that I was blown away, no pun intended, when I found out that you were still alive. After I found out that you were still alive, it made me very nostalgic. I went through the box where I kept all my old yearbooks and I saw that somehow I had ended up with one of yours. I thought I would surprise you with it."

"Well, you certainly did that," Chloe answered. "Thank you. My granddaughter was really getting a kick out of seeing those pictures of me."

Clark chuckled, "I'm glad she is enjoying it."

Just then a cold gust of wind blew through the park, causing Chloe to shiver and scoot slightly closer to Clark.

"How have things worked out for you?" Clark asked. "You seem to be content."

"Oh, I am. I have a great life out here. All my family is near here. I have lots of friends." Chloe paused. "But, I could always use more."

"You know I am here whenever you need me," Clark responded.

"I know," Chloe said as she patted Clark's hand. "So, lets see what have I been up to. I went to Snowden University where I got a degree in English. I also got a husband there, I just didn't know it to start with. His name is Tim. He's a great guy. I have three kids, all girls, and two grandchildren, one girl and one boy. You've met Elizabeth already."

"Yes, she reminds me a lot of you." Clark remarked.

"Oh, really! What did she do that reminds you of me?" Chloe asked, intrigued.

"She has the same spunk as you." Clark retorted.

Chloe's face began to glow. "What did she saw when I was out of the room?"

Clark smiled. "She asked how I knew you. I told her that we went to high school together."

Chloe relaxed grateful that Elizabeth hadn't said anything embarrassing. 

"Then she asked if we had ever dated." Chloe's face turned read again. "I'm sorry she can be quite precocious at times."

"It's fine." Clark said. "Tell me what you have been doing all these years."

"Well, I have written several mystery novels." Chloe replied hesitantly. "You've probably never heard of any of them."

"Actually I have. I just didn't know it was you at the time." Now it was Chloe's turn to be surprised. "You've read my books?"

"Yes, I think they are excellent. You're one of my favorite authors." 

Chloe could feel her face getting red again from his compliment. "I tried writing what my publisher considered science fiction, but it didn't go very far."

"Why not?" Clark asked.

"Well, for some reason my publisher didn't think a bug boy, or a girl who could morph into anybody or a guy who could split himself into two people was believable. Can you believe that?" Chloe chuckled.

Clark laughed, "No, I can't believe that."

"I can't either. I told him that he needed to have a more open mind."

"And what did he say to that?" Clark wondered.

"He said I needed to stick to mysteries," Chloe snorted. "But, I do have some real fun sometimes," she added, changing the subject.

"Oh, really. What do you do for fun?"

"You're not the only investigative reporter from Smallville. Tim runs the local paper, and I have been quite influential in a number of important stories."

"You didn't do anything dangerous, did you?" Clark said in a concerned and almost scolding tone.

"Me? Do anything dangerous?" Chloe smiled innocently. "Okay, so I would. But, I always took precautions and was very careful. I'm still here so everything worked out okay."

"So, what dangerous missions did you go on?" Clark inquired, almost afraid to ask.

"Well, a little while back we had a new police chief appointed here. However, there were some people who thought they should have gotten the job instead. So they tried to scare the chief off by running him off the road and they even attacked him at his house. The other police officers didn't believe him. They thought he was making the whole story up."

"You thought otherwise?" Clark asked, amused.

"Yes. I did a little surveillance and found out who was behind it all and got to break the biggest story of the year," Chloe said, beaming.

"And you helped out the police chief," Clark added.

"Yes, that too."

There was a slight lull in the conversation as they looked out at the scenery.

"How is Lois doing?" Chloe asked finally.

"She is doing just fine. Feisty as ever." Clark said with a smile.

"I'm glad you found someone you could share everything with."

"Me too." Clark hugged Chloe. "You know, I never forgot about you."

Chloe looked up at Clark her eyes getting misty. "Really?"

"Of course." Clark answered. "I do have Lois now, to share things with, but I have always had a special place for you. I always will. You are in no way forgettable."


End file.
